Truck Drivers Assist In Rescue

The last week of June, Mike Holmes, from the Dept. of Agriculture, and I both received calls about Spirit. He was a young foal who had been bitten by a rattlesnake and abandoned by his band. In addition to his snakebite it looked like he had been attacked by other animals.  He was spotted along Interstate 80 near the Lockwood dump (about 10 miles east of Reno).

Carol Glyn and I loaded up the horse panels for a rescue and we headed to the Lockwood dump and met Mike there. We set up a makeshift corral,  but we couldn't get Spirit into our corral. A trucker stopped and also attempted to catch Spirit. We realized it would take someone on horse back who could lasso the little guy.

The following day we first we tried to catch him by hand. When that didn't work, Mike got his horse Charlie Brown and lassoed Spirit.  The trucker who helped the first day  stopped and got eight other truckers  to stop and help carry Spirit out of a steep ravine. Since we had so much help from the truckers we thought we would name the horse "Trucker". But the truckers got together and raised $450 to help with his medical expenses and on the envelope was the name "Spirit". So he has been named Spirit.

It was touch and go for awhile, but he is doing better. The swelling is going out of his leg and he is starting to stand on it again.  At this point we are hopeful he will survive.   --- Sherry O'Mahony

←Initially, Spirit was too weak to stand or even lift his head. Many VRWPA volunteers took turns feeding him by hand.

He had been bitten in the upper part of his leg and then the venom had settled in the lower part of the leg.

Spirit is now doing much better.→

He cannot be released back into the wild so VRWPA has decided to adopt him as their official mascot.

(Photos above by Jim O'Mahony)

←I Spirit on July 29. The leg is still swollen, but he is getting better each day.

(Photo to left by Maggie Hohn)